Thursday, 22 January 2015

William Roache's emotional NTA tribute to Anne Kirkbride

Today's Manchester Evening News has the full report with a gallery of pictures from last night's tribute to Anne Kirkbride at the National Television Awards. The awards were screened live from London on ITV.

William Roache paid emotional tribute to Anne Kirkbride. Castmates were left in tears after the moving speech detailing William and Anne’s time on screen together.

And the star-packed audience at the glittering awards ceremony at the 02 Arena in London gave him a standing ovation after he signed off his speech with “I love you Anne”.

You can watch William Roache's speech, as it has now been posted to YouTube.

Here’s William’s speech in full...

“For over 40 years our dear friend Anne Kirkbride played the part of Deirdre Barlow and she became one of the best loved and most enjoyed characters on British television.

“With her husky voice and trademark spectacles the nation took Deirdre to their hearts. As the characters of Ken and Deirdre we felt we’d met our soulmates and no matter what was thrown at us, Deirdre’s wrongful imprisonment, or the compelling love triangle with Mike Baldwin, we always found one another together the nation seemed to want us together and I feel so blessed, honoured and privileged to have had those years working with Anne."

“What I will remember the most is the vibrant, warm-hearted, loving person who came into work each day came and gave us all a hug and brightened up our lives.

“In real life the programme brought Anne and her husband David together when he joined Coronation Street to play the Character of Dave Barton and he’s lovingly and loyally been at her side since they married in 1992.

"Together with Anne’s brother John and his family, David and her Coronation Street family and especially Beverley Callard who was very close to Anne in her last days, we’ve been deeply touched by the outpouring of love for Anne since she passed away on Monday.

“We share your grief and sadness at losing such a beautiful person who will be so greatly missed by us all.

"I love you Anne.”

At the NTAs, EastEnders won the award for Best Serial Drama and dedicated their award to Anne Kirkbride. Watch Adam Woodyatt's speech here.

I loved Adam's tribute on behalf of Eastenders. What a lovely thing to do. Tears came to my eyes. His sincerity, Corrie's appreciation, the whole thing was beautiful.But what the heck was Shane Ritchie doing? Adam was being so perfect...and Shane was mugging for selfies and making faces. Very odd.But again....kudos to Adam. Very thoughtful.